Thursday, May 17, 2007

(1) Still sore over missing TARCon :(. Sounds like the TARFlies had a blast. Well, there's still Amazing Race 12 this fall unless CBS does something weird. I did pick the winner right in a March blog here : Eric and Danielle. Just about everyone else in the late going (poss. excepting Charla) showed some sign of serious fatigue. Even Dustin & Kandice (their little fight, and their struggle with the last task). Oswald and Danny were hit the worst, with all the classic signs : arguing, disorientation, bleary eyes, and bungling tedious tasks. Heck, even Phil looked a bit weary.

(2) I'm still getting good feedback on the singing groups special, especially the Alvin Chea interview. Take 6 fans a re coming out of the woodwork. See below, April for a played-list. Acappella fans should know that while the Fall WUSB 'thon will probably generate a different show (on ethereal music), I'm still hoping for an acappella jam show on one of my regular shows in September/October. But I'm going to need a lot of groups to show up. So if you're in a Metro NY, Jersey, or Connecticut bandless band, leave me word here as to availability and contact. And keep checking here for further developments -- they will be posted.

(3) Revamped many of the word definitions on the Spirithome.com site. That includes clearer sections on homiletics and "deliverance ministries". If you're a student of religion or of Christianity, or you're a news reporter or talk show producer searching for information on a topic on Christianity, Spirithome.com is what you're looking for. There's no end to what you can find there.

(end of shameless plug for my own site....)

(4) I still can't get over those who keep calling the expression of religious belief in the public and political realms "dangerous". The Constitution specifically protects religious practice. Christian religious practice is based on loving one's neighbor, and being of help even to those who don't hold our beliefs. This is often unavoidably public, and sometimes unavoidably political. If I can't fully follow through on that, then I am not free to practice my faith. The Founders of the US understood that. Yet some writers, mostly but not exclusively on the Left, just don't get it, mainly because some religious person says something they oppose, and they (sometimes rightly) fear that the advocates are tyrants in disguise. But that's irrelevant; you fight them by opposing their viewpoint on the subject matter, not by telling them to shut up like O'Reilly does. You're free to oppose. Just don't even try to cut off the social space for the public parts of religious practice. You'll have me in your face. For your own good. For our freedom to speak is also yours, and if we don't have it, you also won't have it before long.

That said, some Christians should learn when to speak and when to listen. Listening, too, is part of loving one's neighbor.